Streamwood 9, Larkin 5
Once the Streamwood softball team got the bats going Friday afternoon, there was little Larkin could do.
After collecting just 1 hit off Larkin senior Sarah McCleary in the first two innings, the Sabres busted loose for a 7-run third and carried it to a 9-5 Upstate Eight Conference victory in a game called after six innings due to rain.
"They were really feeding off each other in that inning," Streamwood coach Lindsay Mulay said.
With one out in the bottom of the third, senior Beth McRill started a hit parade for the Sabres (4-11, 4-6) that saw 6 hitters in a row reach safely. The big blast was a 3-run home run to right field by junior Arielle Gallione (2-for-3). Senior Adrienne Pisano also drove in 2 runs in the inning while McRill added an RBI in her second at-bat of the frame. McCleary also hurt herself with back-to-back walks late in the inning.
"Sarah was on today but they started first-pitch hitting her," said Larkin coach Larry Hight, whose team dropped to 3-12 overall and 3-7 in the UEC. "They just outhit us today. They've got a good hitting team."
Larkin had grabbed a 1-0 lead off Streamwood senior Barb Posinger in the first inning on McCleary's RBI single that drove home freshman Corinne Wimmer, who had been hit by a pitch. Larkin made it 2-0 in the second when Wimmer drove home Leigh Wyatt, who had led off with a single.
The Royals battled back from the 7-2 deficit with a 3-run fourth that was highlighted by Sophie Sterricker's 2-run triple.
Streamwood stretched its lead with an RBI single from Betsy Holman in the bottom of the inning and then scored again in the sixth on a Holman groundout, just before the game was first suspended by lightning then called due to lightning and rain.
"We have to get rid of that one bad inning," said Hight, whose team is scheduled to host the 15th Annual Subway Larkin Slugfest today at the Elgin Sports Complex. "The same thing happened to us at Neuqua Valley and it's hard to overcome a big bad inning like that. I did think we hit (Posinger) better than we did last time, so that's good.
"We'll keep working at it and see what happens (today)."
Ellis Hatchett and Sterricker had had 2 hits for the Royals.
For the Sabres, the win avenged a 2-1 loss to Larkin earlier in the season.
"We've had a couple team things going on earlier in the season and we're just trying to turn it all around and finish strong. I know we have the talent to do that," said Mulay.
Delaney O'Malley, Pisano, Gallione, Posinger (2B) and McRill each had 2 hits for the Sabres.
Posinger struck out three and walked two in picking up the win while McCleary recorded 5 strikeouts but walked four in the complete-game effort.